Juan Latino: The Struggle of Blacks, Jews, and Moors in Golden Age Spain

Abstract

JUAN LATINO, Black scholar of the 16th century, represents an impor ant symbol for Spain at a period during the 17th century when the nation reconstructed its history in order to give the illusion of well-being at a time during which certain vital traditions of religion, monarchy, and academia were threatened by non-conventional groups. As part of certain revisionary attempts by nationalistic playwrights, Blacks figured as protagonists in the theater. The theater was vital as a chief medium of diversion in Spain's effort to reorganize facts so that her ideals of honor, monarchy, and religion would always triumph over the deeds of villains. Of course, mankind has historically reconstructed historical facts to suit its needs so that it is no surprise that Spain simultaneously cast heroes and villains on stage in order to sustain and perpetuate the values deemed desirable by the dominant or conventional group. The Black, Juan Latino, ascends as a hero in the play published around 1620 by Diego Jimenez de Enciso, La comediafamosa de Juan Latino; and, Jews and Moors descend as villains.1 Just as the villains fall to heroes throughout the world in the case-histories of propagandistic struggles fought by the Cid and the Infantes de Carri6n, Christians and non-Christians, God and the Devil, the villainous Jewish and Moorish minorities fall to the heroic Black minority in La comedia famosa de Juan Latino. The uniqueness of a Black protagonist such as Juan Latino in the 17th century can be appreciated after certain general observations are made regarding the overall status of Blacks in the theater of Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries when they appear in significant numbers both on and off stage. Two important trends emerge forthright in the drama which treats the Black during these years. The writers of the 16th century chart a course which the writers of the 17th century reject. The 16th century may be described as a moment when the Spaniards delighted in negating the customs of their Black immigrants who in some areas represented a significant proportion of the population. For instance, in Seville estimates show 14,670 slaves out of a population of 429,362.2 Stated bluntly, the Black was p rtrayed as a buffoon during this period when his presence, at its peak, often threatened the economic and social